He changed Tiwat

"During the time we were separated from you, and Bennett was buried in the snow, you had a rare opportunity to act alone."

"You remembered our original plan, didn't you?"

"Just like the 'script' we discussed before: lure out Abe, then quickly subdue him within five minutes and hide him. This avalanche was originally planned by Abe, and he will definitely come out to check on your life or death... What a great opportunity."

“You waited for him to show himself, then fought him and defeated him quickly—maybe in less than five minutes. Based on the strength you showed when suppressing the remnants of Dulin, if you had fought seriously, Abe might not have lasted a minute against you. Whether it's swordsmanship or alchemy, he is no match for you, and you also have the Divine Eye that he doesn't have.”

"Then you persuaded him to cooperate with your plan and used your alchemy to create a new miracle creature, a fake Abessau. Hmm... maybe most of what you told us before was true, including the fact that the Abessau you killed was actually a 'Flirting Flower'. Flirting Flowers are creatures that are very good at 'mimicry', and there are quite a few in the snow mountains. They were the most suitable 'substitute' you could find at that time."

Aberdo remained silent; the only sound was the clicking of a clock.

Han Fulai paused for a moment, thinking about how to name the "stand-in." After a while, he realized that he really didn't have any talent for naming things...

"Hmm, since it's just a trick flower... let's call it 'Flower Beetle'."

Following "Abedo," the Abedo family has gained another member, "Floral Abedo"...

Even Abedo, who had maintained a blank expression, couldn't help but twitch his lips upon hearing the name. Han Fulai's taste in naming reminded him of Sugar... no, it felt even worse than Sugar. At least Sugar used simple and clear numbering like number one, number two, number three...

Han Fu continued speaking on his own: "The difference between Hua Beiduo and Abe Shao is actually quite obvious, which is intelligence... To put it bluntly, Hua Beiduo is much more dull than Abe Shao. If he talks too much, he will reveal many flaws, so he is very silent... Moreover, his true form is a plant, so he cannot eat Yula's 'Moon Pie,' which also exposes his flaws."

"The whole process should be like this - after you and Abe have discussed the plan, you extract the Dulin residue from the Corrupted Sword and inject it into the Waffle Flower to create Flower Bedo. Just like we in Liyue have puppets like 'mechanical dolls' and 'ice golems', Flower Bedo should be something similar, which can be controlled according to your will."

"Thinking back to that battle, you'll find that Hua Beiduo's behavior during the battle was very strange, quite different from Abe Shao's."

"Suppose that Abe wanted to take your place and that's why he joined us. When he realized his disguise had failed and his identity had been exposed, why didn't he leave? When we discovered the previous Abe when he was killing those treasure-hunting groups, he knew he couldn't fight them head-on and simply ran away. But we had more and stronger people than back then, yet he didn't run away?"

"Furthermore, if he really could transfer his soul and will into the Corrupted Sword and control the power of the Dulin Remnant as you say, then why didn't he just go all out to kill us from the start? Why did he have to wait until you stabbed him before he started to 'transform'?"

"Furthermore, I remember that before he transformed into a Cryo Registra, he actually transformed into many creatures, such as a unicorn, a Hilichurl, a Woolly Flower... But he chose a Cryo Registra that takes root in the ground, completely abandoning all mobility, determined to fight us head-on to the end... Isn't that courting death?"

"—Because all of this is under your control, right? You saw me activate the Jade Shield in the Dulin Cave. As you said, with me present, Flowerbedo can't hurt us. And all its actions are under your control, so you won't let it harm us."

"Thinking about this, everything makes sense now. Hua Beiduo was originally a pawn; his only purpose in appearing was to be used as Abe's substitute and die in front of us."

“In this way, we, especially Yura, will no longer investigate Abe’s whereabouts—because Abe is ‘dead,’ and was killed by our combined efforts.”

"This is called 'using someone else's knife to kill another, or substituting one thing for another.'"

“Continue along this line of thought… You heard about the missing adventurer Joseph from us and realized that the adventurer who has been missing in the snowy mountains for so long is probably already dead—he is a perfect replacement.”

"While we were besieging Flowerbedo, Abe disguised himself as the missing adventurer Joseph, waiting for the rescue team to come to his aid and acquiring a new identity—this is called 'switching the beams and pillars, borrowing a corpse to bring the soul back to life'."

"In fact, these plans were originally intended for you by Abe, but you, like an alchemist, turned the rotten into the magical, dismantling and recombining a failed plan into an amazing miracle."

Han Fulai snapped the pocket watch shut.

"So, Aberdo, do you have any objections to what I've said so far?"

Chapter 150 I Want to Be Human [4k]

Aberdo remained silent.

Not refuting it is tantamount to admitting it.

Han Fulai gripped the pocket watch tightly in his hand.

“Abedo, I promised you I'd help you save your older brother… that promise still stands. I won't reveal this. Your ‘resurrection’ plan was a success; no one else but me will suspect anything… I just want to hear the truth from you—can you guarantee that your older brother truly cares for Joel and will give him a happy childhood?”

Han Fulai had actually considered this for a long time before saying these words.

From an outsider's perspective, Aberdo's actions were actually impeccable. In fact, he even admired Aberdo's quick wit, being able to come up with such a brilliant solution in such a short time after falling off the cliff; most people probably couldn't have done it.

Of course, this is also because Abedo was a master alchemist. Others do not know the "Black Earth Technique" and cannot easily create a miraculous creature that can simulate humans.

This method is even better than the "script" he and Abedo had previously devised.

If things had gone according to plan, so many people wouldn't have witnessed Abe's "death," and hiding Abe wouldn't have meant he wouldn't have been discovered by others... If Abe, who was already "dead," were to be seen by other adventurers in the snowy mountains again, it would cause a new round of trouble.

Abedo's "resurrection" tactic directly gave Abe a new identity, perfectly resolving any potential flaws.

Joseph was just an ordinary person with simple and straightforward social relationships. Even if he died in the snowy mountains, only his child Joel would come looking for him. He was a nobody who wouldn't cause any turmoil even if he disappeared completely.

More importantly, after Abedusau took Joseph's place, Abedusau could now interact with him legitimately—in other words, he could place Abedusau under his "supervision".

Rather than leaving an unstable element that could cause trouble at any time to run wild, it's better to keep it close by and keep an eye on it—"Spark Knight" Klee is a perfect example.

Whether from the perspective of their brotherhood or from the perspective of the Knights of Favonius, this can be considered a win-win solution. As long as Abedo is willing to take on the responsibility of supervision, Wendy and the others will not have any objections even if they find out later.

While objectively speaking, Aberdo was deceiving everyone, including himself... but as the civil servant put it, "Deceiving others is not wrong; being caught deceiving others is wrong."

Han Fulai himself lied and deceived the world at the press conference. As long as it's for the right thing, being flexible in methods is not a problem.

As the saying goes, "a good outcome makes everything good," and it can be said that this is indeed a happy ending for everyone.

He should have pretended not to know anything and simply turned a blind eye to the matter.

In any case, he had already achieved his goal for this trip to the snowy mountains: he had befriended Abedo, obtained a lot of intelligence, and even helped Wendy in the process. Moreover, he could later use Abedo's connections to access internal information about the Knights of Favonius. From any perspective, keeping quiet was the best course of action.

But he couldn't let go of one person.

a child.

Joel.

The child had no idea that the "father" who miraculously returned from the snow-capped mountains was a fake.

He is the only imperfect part of this "happy ending".

So Han Fulai wanted to ask Abedo whether, in this "resurrection" plan, Joseph's "corpse" could be used and then discarded. Would Joel, the orphan, become the "price" for the "happy ending"?

Han Fulai still vividly remembers his conversation with Xiaozhu on the day of the Lantern Festival:

"Brother Han, you told us the story of 'The True Lord Who Guides the Heavens' last time. You said that people used to make lanterns to help the souls of heroes find their way home. Is that true?"

"Of course it's true."

"Then, when Mom sees the lanterns, her soul will return with the great heroes, right?"

"Yes, definitely."

He knew all too well how much an orphan who had lost his parents longed for their return.

Even if it's just "the soul of the mother," even if it's so ethereal, a child still longs to reunite with their parents.

So he would help take care of the orphaned siblings, Yixian and Yizhu, and would say he wanted to be the uncle of Jiang'er, the orphan of the Qianyan Army. He would give Jiang Xue the letter of recommendation from Haidifu so that he could take Jiang'er to Xumi for treatment... Within his power, he hoped that those children could have a better life.

Children always need their parents' love and care.

Even if he's not a real father, it doesn't matter, as long as the care is genuine, that's enough.

Just as Han Fulai once said to Bai Shu: "It's not difficult for a person to do a few good deeds, but it's difficult to do good deeds all one's life. Even if it's just pretending to be a good person, if one can pretend for a lifetime, then one is a saint."

The Duke of Zhou feared rumors, and Wang Mang was humble before his usurpation.

If I had died back then, who would know the truth of my life?

Joseph can be fake, just like Jiang Er can have a foster father named Jiang Xue... But the key question is whether Abe can play the role of "father" well and bring Joel real love?

This was the only thing Han Fulai couldn't stand idly by.

If Abel's answer does not satisfy him, he will choose to expose Abel's pretense and take Joel back to Liyue.

Abedo understood perfectly well why Han Fulai had asked him this question.

The excuse of "amnesia" is indeed impeccable. It can completely attribute all of Joseph's abnormal behavior and even his subsequent personality changes to "amnesia"—"amnesia" itself is a manifestation of "wear and tear," and losing past memories is like losing one's past life.

Despite the tearful reunion between Joseph and Joel, everyone knows that Joseph didn't truly remember Joel. Human memories are interconnected; if he did remember Joel, he should also remember their past interactions... but unfortunately, he didn't.

However, no one will expose it, after all, it's already good enough that Joseph came back alive and can continue to be with Joel.

Just like Joel said, they can continue to create new memories.

—But the premise is that Joseph is truly willing to be a father and continue to create memories with his son.

The bond between parents and children is not solely based on blood ties; the source of affection lies in the everyday interactions between family members.

There was no emotional connection between Abe and Joel; to Abe, Joel was like a costume or prop on a stage, merely part of his "persona."

Once the play is over, the props are no longer of value.

Because of the excuse of "amnesia," he can leave, or rather, abandon Joel, whenever and for whatever reason.

How long can Abe's "filial piety" act last? And how long is he willing to continue it?

Just as Abedo himself always lacks the motivation to pay attention to things he is not interested in, how long can Abedo maintain his interest in this kind of "playing house"?

Abeldo finally spoke.

“I assure you he will play the role of Joseph well—because it was his own request.”

"He asked for it himself?" Han Fulai couldn't help but wonder.

This was indeed something completely unexpected for him.

Abedo nodded seriously: "Yes. The 'mimicry' in alchemy is different from so-called 'disguise' or 'makeup'; it's not just a superficial disguise. This technique is actually one of the applications of the creation method in the 'Black Earth Technique,' which requires the alchemist to have a clear understanding of the overall structure of the object being mimicked."

"Before impersonating me, Abe thoroughly observed and imitated me...and the same was true when he impersonated Joseph."

Han Fulai then understood: "So that means he once..."

Aberdo nodded again: "Yes. He has seen Joseph."

Let's turn back time again.

Facing his brother, and the longsword in his brother's hand that his mother had forged, Abe recalled that afternoon from the day before:

To revive Dulin, he returned to the snowy mountains and watered the Corrupted Sword with the blood of demons.

His actions were exposed to the treasure-hunting gang, which led to the ambush that Han Fulai and his group witnessed yesterday morning.

He would have been content with simply wiping out the entire gang of thieves, but unexpectedly, he encountered an uninvited guest. Two female knights, one in red and one in blue, relentlessly pursued him, and to make matters worse, there was a figure behind them exuding a faint aura of a demon god.

His instincts told him that if he couldn't win, he should run away.

So he ran into the deep mountains.

Because he was fleeing, although he couldn't be said to have been running away in a panic, he inadvertently ended up in a completely unfamiliar place.

He found some strange tracks in the snow, tracks rarely seen in the snow-covered mountains, tracks that looked like someone or some monster dragging a heavy object.

The trail led all the way to a cave.

Out of curiosity, he explored the cave and found that there was already someone inside.

He's dead.

Judging from the uniform the dead man was wearing, he must have been an adventurer in life.

The adventurer had been dead for several days. The fatal wound was to the head, and he also had abrasions of varying degrees on his body, especially his legs, which were bent in an odd direction, and his hands, which were covered in blood and flesh, indicating that he had crawled all the way to this cave.

He was eager to know what kind of magic this cave possessed that made this person, even severely injured, use his last breath to climb here.

However, after searching, he found that it was just an ordinary cave with nothing inside.

He then examined the adventurer's body again and saw the message that the adventurer had covered with his body.

The message was written in blood, containing only a few words:

"Joel, Daddy loves you."

These were the last words left behind by this nameless adventurer.

—A day later, Abe will learn that the dead adventurer's name was Joseph.

He jumped from a high place into the snow, unfortunately breaking both his legs. As he fell, his head hit some loose rocks in the snow. He tried to climb out of the snow-covered mountain, but ran out of strength halfway. So, with his last bit of strength, he climbed into a cave and left a message for his beloved child.

In the cave, that message can be preserved longer, and perhaps one day it will be discovered and passed on to his child.

At that time, Abe didn't understand why that person's love for the child would surpass his own life... but he felt a strange emotion stirring in his heart.

Unlike the sorrow and loneliness I felt from Dulin, this was a completely different emotion.

This feeling is a lot like... jealousy?

He had never experienced being loved like this before.

He suddenly felt a strong urge to understand human emotions and to know what a child who is loved looks like.

Later, Abe met his brother and was defeated by his brother's sword.

His brother was about to kill him.

Of course, this was an inevitable outcome, because it was he who wanted to kill his brother; between them, there was only a life-or-death choice.

He thought he would feel resentful, angry, and regretful... but strangely enough, the person he remembered before he died was an insignificant adventurer.

To his even greater surprise, his brother didn't seem to want to kill him.